Ruhlmann Is the Right Horse at Right Time : Santa Anita: On a speed-favoring track, he goes wire-to-wire to win the San Bernardino Handicap.

From sunup to sundown, Sunday was Gary Stevens’ kind of day.

In the morning, Stevens was out to work Mister Frisky, the Santa Anita Derby favorite who went through his last serious exercise in preparation for next Saturday’s race.

Mister Frisky, who will put his unbeaten, 15-race record on the line, worked five furlongs in an official 1:00, although trainer Laz Barrera and some other clockers caught him going slightly faster. Only two horses on the work tab turned in times faster than 1:00 Sunday.

In the afternoon, Stevens won three early races and then capped the day with a two-length victory aboard Ruhlmann in the $420,800 San Bernardino Handicap. The 1 1/8-mile race was Stevens’ 11th stakes victory of the meeting, the same total as Chris McCarron, and Stevens has 94 winners overall, which gives him an 18-victory lead over McCarron.

Mister Frisky and Ruhlmann run alike--they go to the lead and challenge the others to catch them. After Annual Date made only a swipe at staying with Ruhlmann early, Criminal Type put in a modest run through the stretch. But he was no match for the winner, who is the right horse at the right time at speed-favoring Santa Anita.

Criminal Type finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Stylish Winner, who was three-quarters of a length ahead of Lively One. Annual Date wound up fifth and Payant was last from start to finish. Ruhlmann, earning $240,800 for Jerry and Ann Moss and increasing his total to $1.5 million, was timed in 1:47 1/5, the same clocking he had in winning the stake a year ago. Only one other horse--Terrang in 1958-59--has won the San Bernardino in successive years.

Ruhlmann, a 5-year-old son of Mr. Leader and Indian Maiden, beat Criminal Type by 1 3/4 lengths in the Santa Anita Handicap March 4. Criminal Type had won the San Antonio Handicap Feb. 11, when Ruhlmann was third. That time, Complicate prevented Ruhlmann from running untethered up front.

Ruhlmann, favored by the crowd of 46,277 on Santa Anita’s Latin Fiesta Day, paid $4.60 to win and gave trainer Charlie Whittingham his 11th victory in the San Bernardino. Whittingham also saddled Lively One and Payant.

“When Ruhlmann runs on the lead with no pressure, he’s always going to be tough,” said Wayne Lukas, who trains Criminal Type. “Maybe he won’t always have that advantage, which is especially favorable at this distance. You’ve got to have somebody go with him, and it would also help if they wrote the races longer.”

Stevens, who is leading the country in purses with more than $3.3 million, had a productive week, also throwing in a couple of three-victory days.

“When he switched to his right lead (foot) turning into the stretch, he was long gone,” Stevens said of Ruhlmann. “The only concern I had was warming up. He bit his tongue and had some blood coming out of his mouth. He wears a tongue tie and was on the muscle, chomping on the bit and grinding his teeth. But he went to the gate just right and was real settled.”

Ruhlmann carried 123 pounds, four more than Criminal Type. Lukas replaced Alex Solis on Criminal Type with Laffit Pincay, who had ridden the horse five times before.

“When Laffit elected to go outside on the far turn, he lost a little ground,” Lukas said. “That may have been the difference. If he could have gotten into contention a little more at the eighth pole, it might have been closer.”

Pincay rode Ruhlmann to victory last year in the San Bernardino. “My horse tried all the way,” he said Sunday. “(Eddie) Delahoussaye’s horse (Annual Date) came in a little on the backside, and my horse got intimidated and wouldn’t go up inside there. I had to go out and come around. I don’t know if it would have made any difference, but I would have been closer. I still thought I had a chance at the top of the stretch, but the other horse didn’t stop.”

Ruhlmann races on Lasix, a diuretic that discourages bleeding. “He’s a fast horse, and if we can keep him from bleeding, we’ll be all right,” Whittingham said. “The way my other horse (Lively One) ran today, I might have left it for Lukas to pick up the money.”

Whittingham has designs on even bigger money for Ruhlmann, who probably will run in the Pimlico Special in Baltimore May 12. Once again, Ruhlmann may be the right horse for the right time. The Special’s purse has been increased to $1 million, and Pimlico can sometimes be a speed-favoring track, like Santa Anita’s.

Horse Racing Notes

Trainer Ron McAnally doesn’t know what to do. He will start Balla Cove in the Santa Anita Derby Saturday, but he’s on the fence with Silver Ending and Single Dawn, two more of his 3-year-olds. “I was figuring on the Blue Grass (at Keeneland April 14) for Silver Ending, but that race is now coming up real tough,” McAnally said. “But if I keep him here and run, there’s a whole lot of speed in the race, and that won’t help my horse, either.” Silver Ending worked six furlongs Sunday in 1:11 1/5, the fastest time of the day, and Single Dawn was clocked in 1:12 2/5.

McAnally probably won’t make a decision on the Santa Anita Derby until entry time Thursday morning. . . . Definites for the race are Mister Frisky, Real Cash, Warcraft, Music Prospector, Video Ranger and Balla Cove. Possibilities are Single Dawn, Silver Ending, Assyrian Pirate, Farma Way and Robyn Dancer. . . . The Blue Grass will include Summer Squall, who beat another McAnally colt, Tight Spot, in the Jim Beam Saturday at Turfway Park; and Unbridled, who beat Single Dawn in the Florida Derby . . . Tight Spot, who faded from second to fifth in the Jim Beam, was examined after the race and was found to have bled from the lungs.

Pat Day confirmed that he will ride Summer Squall in the Blue Grass, which leaves Unbridled to be ridden by Craig Perret. . . . There was no swelling in the leg where Summer Squall was kicked by an outrider’s pony minutes after his victory Saturday. It required two stitches to close a superficial cut. . . . Wayne Lukas said that Land Rush will run in either the Blue Grass or the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park April 21.

The same syndicate that owns Summer Squall won Sunday’s fourth race at Santa Anita with Hitchcock Woods. . . . Survive, trained by Dick Mandella, is winless in three Santa Anita starts this year, but he won Sunday’s $100,000 Bed o’ Roses Handicap at Aqueduct. Ridden by Jose Santos, Survive ran a mile in 1:34 1/5 on a track listed as good to tie the stakes record. . . . Claire Marine, who finished second to Brown Bess in the Eclipse Awards voting for best female turf horse last year, has been retired and probably will be bred to Alydar.